Skip to main content

No Winner in Ultra-Mobile Computing Race

Ultra-mobile computing could far outsell desktop and notebook PCs in the long-run, and is now garnering much attention from semiconductor firms, according to the latest market study by In-Stat.

Apparently, Intel is gearing up to do battle with ARM -- the RISC-based, incumbent, intellectual property (IP) company that has dominated the embedded mobile semiconductor market for consumer electronics devices for much of this decade.

"Mobile devices are now performing many more computing-related tasks than in the past, thus, placing additional performance and power demands on processors," says Jim McGregor, In-Stat analyst.

"But battery technology cannot currently keep pace with these ever-increasing demands and, at the same time, consumers want compact mobile devices that they can easily slip into a pocket, precluding the use of a larger battery. Processing solutions that offer high-performance, while limiting power consumption, are needed."

The In-Stat research covers the worldwide market for Ultra Mobile Device microprocessors. It examines the battle between processor architectures, which are the hearts and brains of these new devices.

In-Stat's market study found the following:

- Intel's expansion into emerging form factors, such as UMDs and MIDs, with low-power products expands the list of competitors.

- Applications will dictate solutions in the short-run; other factors, such as economies of scale and relationships, will decide solutions in the long-run.

- There will be no clear semiconductor company "winner" in the short-run.

Popular posts from this blog

The Billions Bet on Tentative AI Demand

Gartner's latest worldwide IT spending forecast exposes a trend every CIO has already felt in budget negotiations. Total spending will climb 14.2 percent in 2026, reaching $6.37 trillion. It seems that the IT infrastructure market is simply having a strong year. However, the more useful insight is how unevenly that growth is distributed. The Headline Number vs. The Real Story Data center systems and infrastructure as a service (IaaS) are absorbing capital at a pace several multiples faster than devices, communications services, and traditional IT services. This is not incremental growth spread across a healthy portfolio. It is a wholesale reallocation of enterprise technology budgets toward AI infrastructure, made on the expectation that demand for AI workloads will justify the outlay before that demand has been fully proven. Where the Money is Going Data center systems are forecast to grow 62.5 percent in 2026, that's up from 51.6 percent growth in 2025, reaching $822 billion....